Ashley Road Fire, Explosion Thought To Be Started By Cigarette

A fire at a house on Ashley Road yesterday that caused a loud, explosion-like noise was determined to be started by a thrown-away cigarette, Ramona Fire Department/Cal Fire said.

Capt. Don Davis said the 75-year-old man who was taken to the hospital for burns had thrown away a cigarette that may have ignited a fire in the trash can that then spread.

"The Sheriff’s Department has determined the explosion everyone heard was a CO2 cartridge," Davis said. "It was not the electrical panel exploding."

Davis said the explosion of the overheated CO2 cartridge was a "byproduct of the fire."

The elderly man had limited mobility, according to Davis, and may have been asleep when the fire started.

"His wife heard the wind chimes making a lot of noise and she went out to check and that’s when she saw the fire and saw him crawling off the deck near a tree," Davis said.

The fire captain said she and neighbors used their hoses to put out the fire, which only scorched the outside of the home, before the fire department arrived. The fire caused a breaker panel to blow, Davis said.

According to the fire department, the man was in stable condition last night, but called his burns "considerable."

VFW Post 3783 Commander Doug Scholl told Patch that the victim is a life member of the local post and was transported to the UC San Diego Burn Center located in downtown San Diego.

"He’s going to be going through a painful process… as all people do with burns, no matter big or small," Davis said.

The investigation is still ongoing and authorities have determined the total estimated cost of damage.